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HIV and AIDS infections among adolescent girls and younger mothers are four times higher than their male counterparts. 

This, the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) says, is complicating the government's push to bring down infections in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Dr Daniel Byamukama, head of HIV prevention at UAC, said Uganda has gradually brought down infections among the general population from 6.4 percent to 5.8 percent. 

But there is a real worry that such good work could be undone by the worryingly high infections among girls unless something is done to stop the trend. 

He made the revelation during a press conference at Uganda Media Centre on Monday, October 23. 

Byamukama said the biggest push factor for the high infection rate is the high gender-based violence in the country and high teenage pregnancies, which in 2022/2023 totalled 1,404 teenage pregnancies. 

Societal impediment 

“Who gets raped most, married off most without their consent, or beaten most by their husbands when they have come with STIs? It is women,” he said, adding that if Uganda is to make progress, there is a need for social structure factors in Uganda that put women in more vulnerable positions to be addressed. 

Byabakama also called for a multi-sectoral approach to end the scourge. He called upon all partners to play their roles to avoid defaulting on their commitment as HIV is still a public health threat. 

Byamukama’s revelations on HIV/AIDs among the youth are consistent with previous findings, particularly the Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA 2020-2021), which showed that HIV prevalence increased markedly in early adulthood, particularly among women from ages 15-19 to 30-34 years and to a lesser extent among men, from ages 15-19 to 35-39 years.